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Hate Crimes Down 4 Percent In California

SACRAMENTO (AP) — The state attorney general’s office says the number of hate crimes reported in California dropped four percent last year.

The office said Tuesday that 1,060 hate crimes were reported in 2011, 57 fewer than in 2010.

Nearly six in 10 were based on the victim’s race, ethnicity or national origin, with nearly a third aimed at blacks.

The attorney general’s office says crimes against Hispanics have dropped nearly 44 percent in the last 10 years, despite a bump in 2010 that experts attributed to the national debate over an Arizona law targeting illegal immigrants.

Religion-based crimes remained relatively steady from the year before, about two-thirds targeting Jews.

Prosecutors filed 204 hate crimes charges last year. So far, 74 have resulted in hate crime convictions and 80 in other convictions.